Listen carefully. This article offers a guaranteed way of using Windows 8 without ever having to see the Metro
crap. This method works with the latest Windows 8 Enterprise
RTM Build 9200 edition, and as such, ought to work with all versions of this operating system forever and ever.
This tutorial supercedes the older Metro disable article that was only
relevant in the Developer Preview edition but no longer true in the
Consumer Preview.

I will now show you how you can use a tool called Classic
Shell, a collection of features that existed in older versions of Windows and were later removed, to
customize your Windows 8 installation so that it never shows the Metro screen. You will gain back the standard
Start menu, the button, the options, everything. This is an absolute must and a prerequisite for wanting to use
Windows 8. We did the same thing in Windows 7, but here, it's an
absolute must. Please take a look.

Classic Shell installation

The installation is very simple. And once it finishes, you will have gained a lot. First, you will have a Start
button restored. Second, hitting the Super key will not flip your desktop over and show you the crapola that is
Metro. Instead, a standard menu will launch and you will have an option to customize it.

Customize Classic Shell

Now, you will need to spend a few minutes tweaking your menu to your liking. You can choose between classic,
Windows XP or Windows 7 style menus, choose the skin, as well as configure several other settings, like
shortcuts, menu size, menu delay, number of available items, recent items, favorites, and similar. By default,
only a small number of options are revealed, but you can easily expand to All Settings and make desired
changes.

The most important setting - you can skip Metro, so this is similar to Skip Metro Suite, only it's more powerful and extensible. Bravo.
Excellent. This is the functionality that everyone has been waiting for all along. Finally.

You also get Windows Explorer and Internet Explorer extensions:

Screenshots

All right, after about 10 minutes of work, I opened a few documents and populated my Recent items list, I added
a few shortcuts and suchlike. It looks and feel almost identical to the standard Windows 7 menu. The only
difference is that search items are displayed to the right in cascading menus rather than in a standalone
search page. However, I guess this will also be added in the future.

And some greatness:

Make no mistake - this IS Windows 8:

Conclusion

Microsoft should be eternally grateful than people like the guys developing Classic Shell exist, because they
have just saved their friggin business. Instead of allowing Windows 8 to flop, these guys have heroically put
together this splendid little program that will allow so many clueless, helpless users to continue using
Windows. It will also help those without a choice and in need of the latest Microsoft operating system use it
without ever having to worry about the nonsense called Metro intruding on their productivity and fun.

The Metro interface, the menu and all that useless would-be modern tablety crap can be undone by using the
Classic Shell. You get your sane desktop back and can now focus on enjoying many windows open at the same time
and no flipping 180 degrees to access the menu or worrying about huge tiled applications designed for morons.